Seymour blasted apart the league in the regular season and nothing changed in the finals.
Shepparton Gators travelled to Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre on Saturday evening to take on the minor premier in the CBL North East women’s division.
Seymour was the hot favourite going into the semi-final and from the start the Blasters looked in control.
It was a one-sided affair, which the Blasters claimed by 32 points, booking a place in the big dance on Saturday evening.
As the home side had done for the regular season, it quickly warmed up and dominated the scoreboard.
The Blasters doubled the Gators’ score of 14 for the first quarter and it got better for Seymour in the second quarter.
The minor premier landed 22 points to its opposition’s nine.
Having banked a 27-point lead at half-time, the Blasters won the second half by five points as they stepped back a gear or two to win by 32.
Their first-half domination gave them the luxury of saving energy for the decider.
There were brief celebrations before attention turned to the final game of the season.
Albury won its semi-final against Wodonga on Sunday afternoon by six points.
The Cougars and Blasters will meet at 5.15pm on Saturday at Shepparton Sports Stadium to decide who will lift the 2023 North East CBL women’s premiership.
But that was not the only semi-final Seymour was involved in at the weekend.
Another chapter of the most heated rivalry in the CBL was served up on Saturday night.
The two Bs of the North East league, the Blasters and Breakers, have come face-to-face in many do-or-die matches over the past few years.
If you compare these teams to lovable fruit-based characters wearing sleep attire, Seymour would be B1 with three consecutive championships under its belt and only one premiership short of a historic 10th title.
Benalla had not been able to overcome the Blasters in recent memory.
But after finishing as the minor premier, B2 was determined to step out of B1’s shadow.
The Breakers stormed into the lead on their home court, scoring 26 points to Seymour’s eight in the first quarter.
The first spell of drubbing shocked Seymour into gear and the Blasters brought the deficit back to 12 points by half-time.
While the second half was low-scoring, Benalla doubled Seymour’s third-quarter tally and claimed the last period by a point.
The 67-50 win felt like a changing of the guard as the Blasters’ dynasty came to an end.
The Seymour defence could not stop Eric Miraflores, who shot a game-high 26 points, including four three-pointers.
Lachlan Kego, Sam Beks and Tom Downie played equal roles in the attack, each hitting 12 points and keeping the opposition guessing where the shot would come from.
Seymour’s leaders Robbie Sartori and Jack Murphy were held to four points between them, while attacking threat Eden Hobbs was held to 12 points.
Benalla coach Wally Armstrong was ecstatic that his side was into another grand final.
“We’ve been in the CBL system for five to six years and we’d never beaten Seymour,” Armstrong said.
“We got within one point once. We played them in the last two grand finals and obviously got beaten.
“So to finally get the monkey off the back, yeah, I’m very proud of the boys. Exceptional effort.
“Eric Miraflores takes the bull by the horns when he needs to.
“He’s a big-time scorer. Teams put a fair bit of homework into him, but it’s not the size of the dog, it’s the fight in the dog.
“He’s only a little man, but geez, he knows how to get it done.
“They really tried to put the clamps on him, and that’s when the rest of the team sort of stood up.
“The two big boys, Lachlan Kego and Tom Downey were fantastic, and the guys that came off the bench were great, too.
“(Sam) Becks chipped in for his 12 points and Jordan Munro, while it was only five points in the point guard position, was exceptional.
“It’s probably the best game he’s played for us. His defensive game was unbelievable.”
Benalla is into its third straight grand final and, for the first time, it will not be Seymour that the Breakers match up against.
Myrtleford was too strong for Wallan on Sunday afternoon, locking in a grand final berth with an 18-point win.
The championship match will get under way at Shepparton Sports Stadium on Saturday at 8pm.